In view of the rising cases of Covid19, Nepal has banned all domestic flights from Monday midnight and all international flights from Wednesday midnight until May 14.
A media report quoted Nepal health minister Hridayesh Tripathi as saying, “The decision on flight restrictions are in place until May 14.”
However, charter flights will be allowed, Tripathi said.
Nepal has made quarantine mandatory for all people who arrive in the country from outside.
Upon arrival in Kathmandu Valley, the people coming from outside Nepal, are subject to a mandatory 10-day quarantine in hotels, said the report.
It has been reported that a negative polymerase chain reaction test result obtained within 72 hours prior to departure from the country of origin is required for entry into Nepal.
Nepal imposed prohibitory orders for weeks in Kathmandu Valley with effect from April 29 as the three districts of the Valley including Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur are mostly affected by Covid29 pandemic in terms of the number of daily cases, Kathmandu Post reported.
Kathmandu Post quoted Birendra Bahadur Basnet, managing director of Buddha Air, as saying: “The whole country is going into lockdown and the two-week circuit-breaker is a wise decision,” adding, “We will regret it if we don’t act now.”
It has been reported that Nepal on Sunday registered the highest-single day surge of Covid19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic in January last year.
Nepal recorded a total of 7,137 new Covid19 cases and 27 more deaths.
With these fatalities, the death toll in Nepal has increased to 3,325.